Operation Overview: 1/5’s new combat base was situated atop a small hill, located about two kilometers west of the small town of Que Son . This new combat base was intended to help secure Highway 534, which linked the town of Hiep Duc with Highway 1, as well as a secondary road, which linked Highway 534 with Que Son. The Marines of 1/5 would be staying in the Que Son Valley for several more months.
Although this new combat base would be labeled “Hill 51,” the hill it sat on was not much more than a small bump on the landscape. On the tactical maps, it didn’t even have an elevation number. Its location was identified as an amoebae-like circle, about three hundred meters in diameter, and was just slightly over thirty feet in elevation higher than the surrounding countryside. However, when asked by 5th Marines Headquarters for the name of the new 1/5 combat base, Lt. Col. Hilgartner unhesitatingly dubbed their new location as “Hill 51.” In later years, when reflecting on this decision, Colonel Hilgartner stated, “Hill 51 was not 51 meters high, or 15 meters low. When asked by Regiment for a name, I gave it the name Hill 51, which really is 1 st Battalion, 5 th Marines backwards. They bought it hook, line and sinker!”